Of Shields and Mates
by Star Lin
Summary: Prince Atemu is unsure of his army loyalty to both his father and to himself. He sees only one way to find out what the army goes through...by going undercover into the army itself.


Title: Of Shields and Mates Author: Star Lin Pairings: YYY and other pairings to come Warnings: Set in Ancient Egypt, kind of AU. Some OOC in this story but not much.  
Archive: (hopefully soon)  
Disclaimer: Though I wish I did, I don't own either Yugioh. Don't sue, since I don't have the money. Also, I don't know any of the military style of Egypt army. So help would be great on this.  
Brief summary: Prince Atemu is unsure of his army loyalty to both his father and to himself. He sees only one way to find out what the army goes through...by going undercover into the army itself.  
  
Chapter 1  
  
'Prince Atemu had slip his guards....again.' the brown hair teen thought, watching the guards move pass him in search of the ran away prince. With a shake of his head, the teen headed in a different direction then the guards were going. The were only two spots that Atemu would be at and headed straight for the hardest to reach first. If he wasn't on the stone ledge of the temple, then he would go down to the Nile, and drag his friend back up to the palace.  
  
The brown hair teen made his way out of the palace and through the garden. Up and over the wall, taking the back streets to another wall, and felt along near the corner. With a smirk, he pulled the stone away so that he could slip into the grounds of the temple. With a little bit of work, he had the stone back into place, and then the back wall of the temple. If the Priests ever found out that they both were in the temple, they were both be in serious trouble.  
  
Looking up the wall, he could just make out the shape of a body higher, standing on a ledge, looking not to the setting sun, but off to the....well, he wasn't sure where the other was looking off to. With a sigh, he began to work his way up the wall to that ledge. He wouldn't be able to climb up using the cracks in the wall much longer. He was starting to become any only too tall to trying climbing in this manner but his fingers almost could fit into the more open cracks.  
  
"I really, really wish you would find a safer hiding spot, Atemu," the teen said, pulling himself up on the ledge. The younger teen sighed, but didn't take his eyes off of whatever he was looking at. "What drove you up here this time?"  
  
Reddish eyes pulled themselves away from what he had been watching. "Seth," Atemu began, looking down at the older teen, "have you wonder what the army thinks about my father?" He turn his gaze back to and Seth realize that Atemu was actually looking out toward the practice grounds that the army used. "Why do they fight for my father? Will they have that same loyalty to me?"  
  
A brown eyebrow went up. "Um, Atemu, why are you wondering that?" Seth asked. "They will serve you as they serve your father now."  
  
"Seth," Atemu growled, "how can I be sure of that?" The prince looked as if he wanted to pace, a bad idea considering how high they were from the ground. "I don't know what they face when they go out to fight," he said, running a hand through spiky tricolor hair. "I think if I'm going to trust them, I'm going to need to see how they live." Atemu blinked as laughter came from where Seth was sitting. "Why are you laughing, Seth?"  
  
Seth was bent over, clutching his stomach, and his fist stuffed into his mouth to try and stifle the laughter. "You can't be serious about that," he said, wiping tears from face. He looked up at the face then groan. "Atemu, be serious. You can't just up and walk right in to fight in the army," he said. He watched a dark eyebrow raise in question. "Well, you are the Prince and there are not that many people with tricolor hair. They see you walk in and they'll call the guards and send you right back to the palace."  
  
A smirk play across Atemu's lips. "The think is, they have to actually see the spiky tricolor hair," he said.  
  
A twitched form in his cheek as he watched a now brown hair Atemu take the skirt from Mana's hand. This was a very bad idea, he just knew it. "Atemu, this isn't going to work." Seth said. OK, so the slightly flatters hair actually made it harder to think that this teen was in fact, Prince Atemu. The brown hair help even more but still Seth had a bad feeling about this.  
  
"It will." Atemu said. "Thanks for the help, Mana," he said, smiling at the girl.  
  
"You look really good, Atemu." Mana said. "I better go before Mahaado finds me."  
  
Seth waited until the girl was gone then rounded on Atemu. "Prince Atemu, you are nuts" he said, pacing the Prince's room. "What if your father wants you at his side when the army is supposed to show arms to their Pharaoh?" he asked. "What if the army has to go into battle?" He turned to glare at the Prince, "You could be kill...." The room was empty except for himself. "Correction, I'm going to kill you, Atemu, when I get my hands on you." By Ra, what was he going to tell the Pharaoh?  
  
Atemu shook his head as he slip into a hall. He was almost out of the palace and just needed to make it pass the last of the guards. He waited, not daring to breath, and then held still until the last pair rounded the corner. It took several minutes of ducking and dodging the guards that roam the palace halls. With a mental sigh, he slip by the last guards, dropping down the steps, and moving along the wall.  
  
Atemu made his way into the city, planning on coming to the practice area, and seeing about how to join. As he near the center of the city, he frown, as he saw the gathering that was taking place. He moved into the main body of the group, listening in to the talks going on around him. 'What prefect timing,' he thought, hearing that Recruiting agents were gathering able bodies to join the army. 'Now, where do I find...' and urk as an arm slung itself around his shoulders.  
  
"Ate, I didn't think you would show up for this," a voice said near his ear. Atemu grin as he turn his head to look at the taller blond. "So what made you change your mind?"  
  
"Hey, Jono." Atemu said. "Decided to do my duty to the Pharaoh." He raised an eyebrow at the blond. "What about you, Jono?"  
  
Jono sighed. "Hantor, he decided to join," he said. "I just can't let my brother head off into the army without backup." He gave a shake of his head.  
  
"Please tell me that Hantor isn't trying to do this to impress your sister again?" Atemu asked. He groan as the blond nodded his head. "Idiot," they both said at the same time.  
  
"Come on, I have news to tell you about since the last time you were in the city." Jono said, leading the way to a group standing around an official. "New family moved into the city about a month ago." Jono said as the pair near to group. "Looks like the prince has someone that kind of looks like him."  
  
"He looks like the prince?" Atemu asked. Were the Gods trying to pull a joke?  
  
"Well, he has three different color hair like the prince and it does stick up." Jono said. "But that's the only thing similar about him and the Prince." He grin. "Hantor. Yug," he called out to two people coming out of the group. The brown hair teen was about the same height as Jono though the teen was a bit heavier built. It was the shorter teen that surprise Atemu.  
  
Tricolor hair, the same yet different from his own. Instead of red eyes, they were a purplish red. The teen was half a head shorter then Atemu. "Ate, meet Yug." Jono said, as the other pair near them. "Yug, this is Ate."  
  
"Hello, Ate," the shorter teen said, giving a smile to the other. Atemu return the smile.  
  
"You finish signing up?" Jono asked. Hantor nodded. "OK. Ate and I will be with you both in a bit."  
  
"Jono, you don't have to do this," Hantor said, looking a little worried at the blond.  
  
"And like I said before. Someone got to watch your back." With a wave, Jono, with Atemu following, moved into the crowd. Both waiting their turn to sign their names to the dry sheet of perpryus. With his 'name' now on the recruitment, it meant he was officially in the Pharaoh's army. 


End file.
